We are not just earthen vessels but God’s treasure.
It is 16th June 2017. The readings are from 2Cor. 4:7-15; and the Gospel from Matthew 5:27-32. In the first reading, St. Paul cements our hope telling that God will take care of us no matter what we go through right now in our lives. However fragile, vulnerable, weak, and supple we could be externally we are still worth because of what we possess within ourselves is much more robust, resilient, competent, and resourceful. We are the treasures of God right within. The best in us is yet to be revealed as we face the challenges of the daily living. Due to the storms of life, we seem to be dead, broken, hurt, and almost lost hope yet we have God’s life and the sacrificial love of Christ within ourselves by the virtue of our faith in Him who called us from the darkness. The surface of our life could be exposed to all kinds of challenges, the core of our being still be able to fight back till we meet God face to face. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Cor.7). Yes, indeed we are called to experience the deep and the most reliable resourceful state in our existence. We are too precious to be vandalized by any evil. We capture our treasure within ourselves, when we transcend beyond pleasures of our physical body. Let not our lives be confined to protect this earthen vessel, our human body; let us begin valuing what we have and what we truly possess deep within ourselves. We are not a book of failure, pain and suffering only rather we are gifted and ever fruitful always no matter how hard the fight we have to fight daily. What is within ourselves is roaring for happiness, joy and peace in the deep silence of the spirit. The responsorial Psalm praises, “A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.” (Ps.115:17). In the Gospel, Jesus goes deeper in the understanding and following the law. He wants our families to have dignity, purity, fidelity and love insisting that the pleasures and enjoyments of the human body are not the only means of happiness. Divorce is not the only option to deal with the specifics of the vulnerability and brokenness of the marriage. When the human spirits begin to listen to the tune of God, the bodies are just following the music of happiness, and mutual love and respect. Sin goes beyond the surface of the human body; it affects the core existence of a being and makes us feel embarrassed and embellished before God. The sanctity of the marriage is much more pervasive and penetrative than the spark of the sin that avenges the beauty of marriage. The families are the roots of the tree called society. Let us safeguard the roots, the foundations and the inner treasure so as to enjoy the blessings in full. May you have a good day.